Greater Things
by KristenGall1998
Summary: What if Addison had said, "Yes?" But what if the fairytale didn't last long? What happens when an old friend shows up? What happens when Charlotte gets something that she never thought she'd want? What if that thing brought her family closer? Greater Things are often disguised. AddiSam, Maddison, CharCoop, and Amelia centred. Some chapters are long, while others run very short.
1. Chapter 1

Greater Things are coming. you just have to know where to look for them.

...

It's the day of the wedding, Addison has her hair all done and her makeup looks perfect. Sam is standing beside her on the balcony. They are watching Jake and Cooper set up chairs while Amelia orders Sheldon and Charlotte around with the decorations. The wedding will be on the beach, in front of Addison and Sam's houses.

"I love you." Addison says to Sam.

"I love you, too." Sam replies, stealing a kiss on the cheek before Violet interrupts.

"Addison, time to get into the dress. You should go put your tux on too, Sam."

Violet says, waiting for them to move.

"Okay." Sam says reluctantly as he turns around to go back into the house.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait? I'm sure Sam would understand." Violet asks Addison as she takes Sam's place beside her.

"I'm sure. I don't want to wait any longer." Addison says, smiling.

Amelia yells up to Addison, "I think we are finished with the decorations. What do you think?"

"It looks great Amelia! Thank you!" The front of the house has been decorated with white drapes, flowers and tables. On the beach there are rows of white chairs on either side of a sky blue carpet. The arch at the end of the carpet is white and decorated with blue and white flowers. Some of the seats are starting to fill up as guests start to arrive.

"Alright boys, you guys better come in and get changed. Good work! You too, ladies! Thank you."

"You had better be getting into that dress of yours."

"Yeah. I guess so." Addison replies as she turns around to walk into the house, revealing a massive baby bump. Addison continues to waddle into the house and she stops at the closet, which has several smaller garment bags and one large garment bag hanging off of the door. Violet follows, after closing the doors and drawing the blinds. Addison unzips the first garment bag and says, "Charlotte." who is now walking into the room. Addison hands her the bag and Charlotte takes it into the bathroom.

"Oh, that's mine," Amelia says as Addison unzips the second bag. She hands the bag to Amelia and sends her off behind the divider.

"That means this one is mine." Violet says taking the last smaller bag and pushing it off to the side. She then unzips the largest bag and Addison pulls off her sweater.

Meanwhile, downstairs, where the men are putting on their tuxes, they each take turns having another tie their tie. Jake helps Sam get his corsage in place. Sheldon is looking especially handsome, as he will be officiating the ceremony. Cooper and Jake are wearing black and white classic tuxedos with light blue ties and Sam has a blue vest and blue tie. Sheldon's pocket hanky is also blue, with a blue tie. All of them are wearing black shoes, except for Sam, who has white shoes on. Lucas and Mason have agreed to be the ring bearers, so each of them are dressed very similar to what Jake and Cooper are wearing. Archer is also back in town, and has agreed to walk Addison down the isle.

Back upstairs, Violet, Charlotte, and Amelia have thier dresses on and are fixing thier hair. Naomi bursts into the room, apologizing for being late.

"I'm late! I didn't miss anything, did I? I'm late! I'm late!" Naomi seems panicky, but Charlotte is fast to calm her down.

"It's fine, you're just goin' to have to hurry. Here's your dress," Charlotte says holding up another garment bag. Naomi grabs it and runs to the bathroom.

"Was that Nai?" Addison asks from behind the divider.

"Yup." Amelia answers. "How's it going back there?"

"I need some help with the zipper."

"I'm coming." Amelia answers, standing up. Her dress is a floor length halter top with bunching where the straps meet the rest of the dress. Her hair is done into a half up, half down curly style.

"Alright," Charlotte says, standing up. "I think your hair is done Violet." Charlotte's dress is a very simple knee length dress, with a silver belt at the waist and an extra blue band at the top. Her hair is held back into a tight bun. Violet's dress is a floor length gown with ruching at the top and a sweetheart neckline. Her hair is pulled back into a very simple updo. Naomi rushes out of the bathroom with her quite simple, v-neck, knee length dress on.

"Zip me, please." She turns to Violet. Naomi has done her hair at the hotel before she arrived, it was a very simple curly style. All of the bridesmaids dresses are light blue and they are all wearing silver heels and diamond earrings with matching necklaces.

"Is everyone ready?" Addison calls out from behind the divider.

"I think so. What are you doing back there?" Violet asks.

"Trying to get my swollen, pregnant feet into these shoes."

"Do you need any help?" Naomi asks.

"Just ... About ... Got it! No, I got it now. Thanks though." Addison replies. "Can one of you go get Archer?"

"I'll go." Charlotte replies. "What should I tell him?"

"Just that I want to talk to him alone. The rest of you can go downstairs if you're ready. Make sure the guys are ready." Addison says peeking around the divider.

"Sure thing." Charlotte replies as she turns to leave. Violet and Naomi follow.

"Are you ready?" Amelia asks Addison behind the divider.

"I think so."

"I'm going downstairs, then." Amelia says with a smile.

"Thanks. Amelia, really." Addison says, apologetically.

"Of course! You're my sister! Anything less would make me a horrible sister!"

"You're the best sister I've ever had." Addison says, jokingly.

"Only, actually." Amelia replies.

"Addie?" Archer calls up the stairs.

"In here!" Addison replies.

"I'll go." Amelia says as she turns to leave.

"Thanks." Addison replies to Amelia. Archer passes Amelia coming up the stairs.

"You wanted to talk to me?" Archer asks Addison.

"Yeah. Thank you, for doing this, really, I appreciate it. I didn't want The Captain here after our last confrontation." Addison says, looking at the floor.

"Me neither. He wasn't the nicest to you. You look great." Archer flatters.

"I feel huge."

"You should."

"Yeah," Addison says, touching her stomach and smiling.

"You ready?" Archer asks, grabbing Addison's hand.

"Let's do this."

"Okay. I'll just go down and get the place cleared. Got your flowers?"

"Right here." Addison says picking up a bouquet of red and white roses.

"Good. I'll be right back. Don't try to go down the stairs by yourself." Archer says as he starts walking towards the staircase.

"Yes boss." Addison says laughing.

"Hey! How are you?" Naomi asks, coming up the stairs.

"So far, so good. If everything ready?" Addison asks hopefully.

"Yeah. The last few people are just getting seated. Mark showed."

"Mark? Mark is here?! Why?" Addison looks puzzled.

"I don't know. Maybe Sam invited him? I don't know. Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's just here for support." Naomi says. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." Archer comes running up the stairs.

"Alright, all set." Archer says. "Nai, leave please."

"Fine." Naomi says as she turns to leave.

"Shall we?" Archer says, holding his arm out for Addison.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Let's do this." Addison says, taking Archers arm. Archer and Addison carefully and slowly go down the stairs, just in time to see Sam walking out towards the alter. Mason and Lucas are lined up next, followed by Violet, Charlotte, then Naomi. Addison takes her place at the end of the line. She can see that Cooper, Jake, and Sheldon are all at the end of the carpet and Sam has made his way to the end. Mason has Lucas' hand and the pillow with the rings and is walking to the end of the carpet. He hands the rings to Jake and leads Lucas over behind Cooper. Violet and Charlotte walk down the isle. Naomi takes her turn, then comes Addison. Addison has on a floor length, strapless, silk, white gown with a short train, and ivory colored lace and an ivory band at the waist. Her hair is done into an elaborate up-do. She has on silver flats and diamond earrings. Her necklace is a silver, jewel incrusted statement necklace. She starts walking and everyone stares in awe. At the end of the carpet, she lets go of Archer, grabs onto Sam, and gives Archer a kiss on the cheek. Sheldon dives straight in, saying, "The couple have prepared their own vows."

"I love you." Sam starts, "I will love you until the end of your life, and until the end of forever. I promise to be there for you, both to be there to catch you if you fall, and to lean on when you need me. I will always support you, even of I disagree with your choices. I can't promise I will always agree with you, but I will try my best to understand your choices. I love you, Addison."

"I love you, too. I always will, I always have, since the day you first asked me out, I have loved you, deep down. You are passionate, caring, and respectful. Though we aren't always on the same page, you have always tried to understand me and I promise to -" Addison stops for a minute, cringes, takes a breath, and continues.

"You okay?" Naomi whispers in her ear from behind.

"Yeah." Addison says to Naomi, turning back to Sam. "I promise never run away if things get tough, and to always be there for you if you ever need me to complain to, or to pour your heart out, I will be there for you. I love you."

"Do you, Samuel Bennett, take Addison Forbes Montgomery, to be your loftily wedded wife?" Sheldon asks Sam.

"I do." Sam replies with a cheesy smile on his face.

"And do you, Addison Forbes Montgomery, take Samuel Bennett to be your loftily wedded husband?" Sheldon turns to Addison.

"I do." Addison says to Sam.

"By the power vested in me, and the state of California, I now pronounce you husband, and wife. You may now kiss the bride." Sheldon turns to Sam. Sam leans in and kisses Addison on the cheek. Then he moves to her lips. It's a long, passionate kiss that Addison wishes would last forever. She stops, cringes, and smiles at Sam. "I love you." she says.

"Are you okay?" Sam asks.

"I'm fine." Addison says. "Really."

"Addison." Sam says in a stern voice.

"Sam, I'm fine." Addison says.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam and Addison are at the reception later that night. Addison has a glass of cider, and Sam is wandering around talking to people. Addison has decided if people want to talk to her that they can come to her, so she is sitting at a table with Amelia and Naomi. Amelia gets up to go to the bathroom. She finds Charlotte kneeling over the toilet.

"Are you okay?" Amelia asks, concerned. Charlotte looks up, just to have to turn to throw up again. Amelia quickly closes the door behind her to hold Charlotte's hair.

"What wrong with you?" Amelia questions, worried.

"I'm pregnant." Charlotte says, reluctantly.

"Oh. How long have you known?" Amelia asks.

"I found out yesterday. Coop doesn't know yet, please don't tell him. I want to tell him myself." Charlotte says, looking up.

"Okay. Have you talked to Addison?"

"No, not yet." Charlotte says, ready to throw up again.

"Okay. Well, I'm going back downstairs. If you need me, yell." Amelia says as she turns to leave. She continues down the stairs to where Addison is sitting. Violet has joined the table.

"Charlotte was up there, throwing up." Amelia says to Addison.

"Why was she throwing up?" Violet asks, concerned.

"She figured she got some bad shrimp." Amelia lied.

"Maybe I should go check on her..." Addison started to stand up, but Amelia stopped her.

"Sit. You need to relax. It's not good for the baby that you are running around, stressed out so much." Amelia says, factually. "And I was just up there. I told her to call if she needed me. She'll be fine. If she needs anything, she'll call. It's fine. Sit." Amelia orders. Addison slowly sits back in her chair. She cringes again and takes a deep breath.

"What was that?" Violet looks worried.

"Nothing. It was nothing." Addison says, denying the accusation.

"No, it wasn't nothing. You've been doing that since the ceremony. Addison?" Naomi asks.

"It's just some Braxton-Hicks. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? What if it's not false?" Naomi looks concerned. "I should go get Sam."

"No! No. I'm fine. Don't bother Sam." Addison yells.

"Addison. How many in the last hour?" Amelia questions.

"Six, maybe seven. No more - *cringe* - than that." Addison says as she takes a deep breath.

"We're going to the hospital. Don't resist. Amelia can you get Sam? Tell him we are going to the hospital. We'll meet you there." Naomi says as Amelia runs to find Sam. He is talking to Mark by the water.

"Sam, Naomi and Violet are taking Addison to the hospital. She thought she was just having Braxton-Hicks but Naomi thinks it was more than that. We're supposed to meet them there." Amelia says, trying to get all of her words in one breath. "I can stay here and shut things down if you want."

"Uh, just wait a bit, okay? I'll call when we find out what it was. Don't send everyone home just yet. I should go." Sam says as he starts to leave.

"I'll come." Mark says and starts to follow.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Addison is already settled into a bed when Sam and Mark show up. She has a fetal monitor on and is laying in bed, sweaty and appearing to be exhausted. Naomi walks into the room with her test results.

"Well Addison, it looks like it was a false alarm, but we want to keep a close eye on you. If you feel any more of them you need to come back. Okay? Understood?" Naomi wants to get her point across. "Sam? You'll bring her back?"

"Yes, of course. Addison, you have to tell me if this happens again." Sam looks at Addison.

"Yes dear. Can we go back to the party?" Addison asks Naomi.

"No more hard partying. You can go home and finish the party but don't stay up too late, get lots of sleep, and put on more sensible shoes. I suggest you put something on that is more comfortable than your wedding dress. Sam will be watching you very carefully. Stay relaxed. Any more stress and you'll start contracting. I mean it." Naomi is genuinely worried. She knows it is nearly impossible for Addison to relax. Maybe if she knew it was for the baby…

"Okay. I'll take it easy." Addison says reluctantly.

"Okay then I'll get your discharge papers." Naomi heads out to the nurse's station to get the papers while Sam and Mark take a seat.

"You had me kind of worried. No more running around. We are going home, you are going to bed, and we will clean up. You get no more stress until the baby comes. I mean it. You start maternity leave now. The baby is due in two months. The honeymoon can wait until after the baby is born. I'll call Amelia." Sam picks up the phone and walks out of the room to call Amelia.

Back at the house, Amelia's phone rings, so she goes to pick it up.

"Hey Sam. What's going on?" Amelia asks Sam over the phone as Sheldon walks up to her to eavesdrop.

"It was a false alarm, but she's been put on bed rest. She can still be at the party, but she needs to be relaxed. Not too much wandering around, no dancing, just sitting and talking. It might be a good idea if the extended family left for the night. Tell them they can come back tomorrow after Addie has gotten some sleep." Sam tells Amelia.

"Thanks for the information. See you in awhile." Amelia hangs up. She immediately turns to the rest of the guests, who have sort of all gathered on the deck.

"It was a false alarm, but she's on bed rest. It would be a good idea if you all went home. Sam said you could come back tomorrow. Unless you wanted to help clean up?" Amelia told the crowd hopefully because she was the only one of the decorating team left except for Sheldon. She got a few volunteers, and within an hour they were almost done with the empty cans and bottles and most of the rest of the mess was cleaned up. The house had a very small number of people in it because it was such a nice day outside and no one wanted to really be inside.

Amelia suddenly realized it had been more than two hours since she checked on Charlotte. She hurried upstairs to see if she needed anything.

"Charlotte?" Amelia yelled up the stairs. No answer. "Charlotte?" Still no answer Amelia was staring to worry. The bathroom door was closed, but not locked. She opened the door to find Charlotte passed out beside the toilet. She ran up to Charlotte to get her to wake up but nothing happened. She checked for a pulse, but there was barely one there. She was breathing, but very slowly. She yanked open the window and yelled down to Sheldon.

"Sheldon! Call an ambulance. It's Charlotte." Immediately Sheldon grabbed his phone and called 911 as he raced into the house.

"What happened? He gasped as he ran into the bathroom.

"I don't know. I saw her a couple of hours ago. She was throwing up. She might have gotten dehydrated." Amelia gasps as she tries to wake Charlotte up. "She's pregnant."

"She's pregnant? She's pregnant!" Sheldon shouts into the phone. "The ambulance will be here soon. How far along is she?"

"I don't know she never told me. Maybe six weeks. I don't know. She told me she just found out yesterday. I don't think she's very far along." Amelia is really freaking out now, still trying to get Charlotte to wake up. No luck. "Charlotte! Charlotte!" She yells repeatedly. Charlotte moves her head very slowly, not making a sound.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Back at the hospital, Addison is just getting dressed when her pager goes off.

"Damit. I am not on call!" She yells.

"Stay calm, Addie." Mark tries to calm her down. "Crap. It's Charlotte. I have to at least see what she needs. Get me a wheelchair." Addison orders. Mark leaves the room to find a wheelchair. When he returns, he helps Addison into it and wheels her to the ER. By now, Charlotte is being brought in on a stretcher.

"Charlotte? What happened? Amelia?" She turns to see Amelia running in behind the paramedics. "Amelia? What happened?" Addison asks as she tries to get up.

"Sit." Amelia orders. "Why did they page you? I thought you weren't on call. Aren't you on bed rest?" Amelia questions.

"I'm wondering why I was paged, too." Addison looks at Amelia as the paramedics wheel Charlotte into a trauma bay. "Take me over there, Mark." Addison orders. Mark wheels Addison over tot eh trauma bay.

"She's pregnant." Amelia admits.

"Oh. Did someone tell Cooper?"

"No. He's in the waiting room, right?"

"Yeah," Mark answers.

"I'll go talk to him." Amelia leaves to go to the waiting room. When she arrives, everyone stands up.

"I thought you were still at the house." Violet says.

"Yeah, I had to come in."

"Why?" Cooper asks.

"Coop, come with me." Amelia turns to go around the corner.

"What's up?" Cooper demands.

"Charlotte collapsed. I found her passed out on the floor of Addison's bathroom. She was breathing, and still is, but her pulse was slow and weak and I think she is severely dehydrated." Amelia tells Cooper with a concerned look on her face.

"What? Why would she be dehydrated? Was she throwing up?"

"Yeah, she was. A lot. I-." She doesn't finish her sentence, Cooper cuts her off.

"Why was she throwing up? Why didn't she tell me?" Cooper is really starting to get worried.

"She wanted to tell you herself."

"Tell me what?"

"She's pregnant. She asked me not to tell you, but I kind of have to now. She's only known for a day, so you aren't allowed to be mad at her."

"Oh my god." Cooper smiles. "Where is she?"

"The paramedics are treating her. Addison is down there with her. You can't see her yet. She's still unconscious. I'll come get you when you can see her."

"How long will that be?" He asks.

"I don't know." Amelia's pager goes off and she heads back to the ER.

When Amelia gets back to the ER she finds she was paged for Charlotte.

"It looks like she might have a slight concussion. Nothing serious. She might have hit her head on the toilet or something when she passed out. We put her on fluids and she seems to be stabilizing." Addison tells Amelia from her wheelchair.

"The baby?" She asks.

"We don't know yet. We wanted to make sure she was okay before we worried about the baby. We've already ordered an ultrasound." Addison says.

"Cooper's worried. Can he come see her now?"

"When we finish the ultrasound. It looks like it was just dehydration. She should be fine." Addison says, yawning.

"You should head home. I can perform an ultrasound. I'm just looking for the heartbeat, right?" Amelia asks.

"Yeah, but I can have the nurse page someone from OB. Unless, you really wanted to do it." Addison suggests.

"I kind of do. I can't explain why. I just do." Amelia says. "Maybe page someone from OB to monitor though."

"I'll have the nurse do that on my way out." Addison says as Sam takes his place behind the chair. "Give me a call when you know what's going on." Addison says, turning her head as Sam wheels her away, stopping at the nurse's station so Addison can talk to the nurse. By now the ultrasound has arrived and Amelia pulls up Charlottes shirt and squeezes some of the cold gel onto her stomach. Charlotte starts to wake up.

"Hey, sleepyhead. You really had me worried for a minute there. How are you feeling?" Amelia looks at Charlotte, who is now opening her eyes.

"Where's Cooper?" She immediately asks when she doesn't see that he's around.

"He's in the waiting room. I'll have the nurse page him." She looks at the nurse and they run off to page Cooper. "He knows, Charlotte."

"What? You told him! Amelia, I specifically asked you not too!" Charlotte is really upset, now. "How's the baby?" Charlotte tries to sit up, but Amelia puts her hand on her chest to stop her.

"We are just trying to find out now. If you'd stop moving around so much it might help…" Amelia trails off, trying to readjust the ultrasound.

"Why isn't Addison doing this?" Charlotte asks.

"She went into false labor. Sam took her home. You actually just missed her. She got put on bed rest." Amelia says, then she starts smiling a big, cheesy smile. "I found the heartbeat. It's strong, that's good. Everything looks to be in order here. Do you want to see him?" Amelia asks just as Cooper walks up. He takes Charlotte's hand.

"Yeah. I do." Charlotte says. Amelia turns the screen and turns the volume up so that they can hear the heartbeat. It brings a tear to Cooper's eye.

"He's perfect." Cooper says.

"Hey! It might be a she! Can you tell?" Charlotte asks Amelia.

"Not yet, it think it's too small. Just wait." Amelia moves the ultrasound and finds another heartbeat. She looks puzzled. She hands the ultrasound over to the OB resident. She takes a look.

"Congratulations," she says, "You're having twins."

"What? What!" Charlotte's eyes widen.

"Twins." Cooper says, looking at the screen. "Twins, Charlotte. Twins!"

"It looks like you're about six weeks. That would mean your due date is," she thinks for a moment, "sometime in early March. You'll need to schedule an appointment with your OB to get a more solid date."

"Great. Thank you." Cooper says. "Charlotte? Charlotte?" Cooper notices she hasn't said anything.

"Twins. Twins Cooper!" she starts getting really excited. "Look, I know you love the loft, but we are goin' to need a bigger place. We can't live in the loft with two babies! That'd be crazy!" Charlotte looks at Cooper.

"Fine." Cooper says, reluctantly. "We'll move."

"Can I go home now?" Charlotte asks Amelia.

"Let your IV finish first. Then yes, you can go home. You need lots of water, sleep, and try to keep your stress level low, okay. Now, I promised Addison I would call, so, do you want to or should I?" Amelia asks Charlotte.

"You can. Thanks." Charlotte says to Amelia. She walks away to make the call. Cooper leans over to kiss Charlotte on the cheek.

"I love you." He whispers in her ear.

"I love you, too." She says back to him.

Back at Addison's, she walks in to be greeted by a clean house. She slowly goes upstairs and changes into her pajamas then she crawls into bed. Just as she starts to lie down, her phone rings. It's Amelia

"Hey." Addison says, drowsily.

"Hey. She was just dehydrated; she also had a small concussion from hitting her head on the toilet bowl. She'll be fine." Amelia tells Addison.

"How did the ultrasound go?" Addison asks.

"It was okay. I only completed half of it. I saw a complication and the OB resident took over." Amelia says, hoping for a question in reply.

"What complication?" There's the question Amelia wanted.

"There were two heartbeats. Twins, Addison."

"Twins? That's great! How'd Charlotte take it?" Addison asks.

"She was pretty shocked at first, but she quickly warmed up. Cooper was pretty thrilled. You should've seen his face. He was so happy." Amelia smiles just thinking about it.

"I bet he was." Addison yawns. "Well, it's been a long day. I should get some sleep. I'll call in the morning, 'kay?"

"'Kay. I'll talk to you in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Good morning," Cooper says as Charlotte opens her eyes. She made it home last night, just in time to crawl into bed and crash. She noticed Cooper must not have gotten much sleep. He looked pretty tired.

"Good morning. Did you not sleep well?" Charlotte asks.

"Not really. I was up most of the night smiling to myself like an idiot. You are very beautiful when you sleep." Cooper says.

"You were watching me sleep?"

"Yes, but only for awhile. Then you rolled over." Cooper smiles. Charlotte starts to get out of bed. Cooper follows.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He shouts to Charlotte as she heads into the bathroom.

"Uhm, waffles, please." She replies.

"Waffles, it is." He says as he heads to the kitchen and gathers the ingredients he needs. Twenty minutes later, there is a small stack of waffles on Charlotte's plate, covered with whipped cream and strawberries. She walks into the kitchen and sits down.

"This looks good." She says, sitting down and picking up her fork. She takes one bite and says, "Tastes good, too. Why are you looking at me like that?" Cooper has been looking at her funny.

"I just can't believe it. You, the woman that told me she didn't want kids, pregnant, with twins. I can't believe it." Cooper says, still smiling like an idiot.

"Yeah, well, believe it. When are we scheduled to meet with the real estate agent?" Charlotte hopes he actually bothered to make the call.

"The office opens at nine this morning, I'll call around nine thirty from work. What works best for the appointment?" He asks.

"As so as possible. We have less than eight and a half months before we have two children, plus you have Mason. Did Erica ever buy that house?"

"I don't think she did. Last I heard from her she was looking for an apartment. I'll get the appointment for as soon as possible."

"Good," Charlotte says, shoveling another forkful of waffles into her mouth. Charlotte finishes chewing then says, "We might be able to get Erica to move into this place, then you wouldn't have to worry about loosing it as much."

"That's a good idea. I'll talk to her after I call the real estate agent." Cooper says, finishing his waffles and moving his plate to the sink.

"I'm going to shower, I'll see you at work. Love you." Cooper says, pecking Charlotte on the cheek and taking off into the bathroom.

"Love you, too," She yells after him. She gets up, runs some water to do the dishes, finishes the dishes, and then grabs her purse and coat and heads out to work. She stops by St. Ambrose to finish up some paper work she didn't do last night, the vomiting kind of interrupted her plans to come do some late night paper work after the wedding. After about two hours of paper work, he stack is nearly finished. She gets a call from Cooper.

"Hey," She says as she holds the phone up to her ear.

"Hey," He replies. "I got the appointment for three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. Is that okay?" He asks, hopefully.

"Yeah, that should be fine. I think I am pretty much caught up on my paper work, so I think it will work. Is Addison there?"

"No, she's on bed rest, remember?"

"Crap. Right. Well, we are goin' to have to find an OB for me then." Charlotte reminds him.

"We might be able to see Jake until Addison comes back. You'll be almost at your due date when she comes back, though."

"Yeah, well maybe we can see Jake and Addison can deliver? I'll call her later, maybe." Charlotte says. "I'll be over there soon. I have about another half hour of paper work then I'll be on my way there. Guess what?" Charlotte's staff had put a "Congratulations!" banner on her door and she wanted to tell Cooper.

"What?" Cooper tries.

"You aren't even goin' to try?" Charlotte questions.

"I wasn't planning on it." Cooper says.

"Fine. My staff is trying to turn me soft. There was a big 'Congratulations' banner on my door this morning."

"I think it's sweet that they care about you. That was nice of them. I have a patient. I'll see you in awhile."

"'Kay. I'll see you in a bit. Bye." Charlotte hangs up, turning back to her paper work. Before she even realizes it, she's finished. "I thought time was supposed to fly when you're having fun, not bored out of your mind." She thinks to herself. She leaves, leaving the banner on her door, gets into her car, and heads over to the practice. When she arrives, she finds a huge bouquet of flowers on desk. She reads the card. It says, "Congratulations Charlotte! From all of us, Amelia, Addison, Sam, Jake, Sheldon, and Violet." She can't help but crack a small grin. She remembers back to when Addison told everyone she was pregnant, and getting married, and how she came back the next day to a big bouquet of flowers. Cooper walks in, smiling that same idiotic smile of his.

"Hey," He says with his arm behind his back.

"Hey," Charlotte says, sitting at her desk.

"These," Cooper pulls out three red roses, "Are for the three most important people in my life." He lays the flowers on her desk.

"Thanks. I'm getting all kinds of surprises this morning." Charlotte says, as Cooper walks around her desk to give her a big kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Mark, you shouldn't have stayed. You shouldn't have come at all. Why the hell are you still here?" Addison asks Mark, who is sitting in the chair in Addison's bedroom.

"How the hell did you think I would let you get away with having my child? And how did Sam let you get away with it? Did you even tell Sam the baby is mine?" Mark is getting really upset.

"He thinks I started another round of IVF before he proposed and I told him I was going through with it. I told him I got a sperm donor. He said that was fine." Addison tells him from bed. Henry starts crying, Addison flips the covers and tries to get out of bed but Mark stops her.

"I'm still here because Sam asked me to watch you while he finished off his patient load for the week. Now sit down. I'll get the baby." Mark tells Addison and then leaves to get Henry. He comes back a few minutes later, and Addison holds her hands out to pick up Henry. Mark looks at her like she's crazy.

"Mark, give me the baby." Addison orders.

"Fine, but just for a minute, then I am taking this little guy down to feed him."

"Mark," Addison looks desperate.

"Two words. Bed. Rest." Mark says.

"Fine. Was he just waking up now?" Addison asks, taking almost two year old Henry from Mark.

"I think so. Keisha really tired him out last night." Keisha, the nanny, had taken Lucas, Mason and Henry out the night before so that the adults could have some adult time during the reception. She took them to the park until it got dark and then to go see a movie. She told Addison Henry slept through most of the movie, probably because Addison kept him up most of the night before the wedding, unable to sleep and afraid she wouldn't get to see him the following day. After about ten minutes of playing with Henry on the bed, Addison hands him back over to Mark. Mark comes back into Addison's room after about half an hour.

"He's fed, changed, and ready to play. Should I bring the play pen in here?" Mark asks, trying to make Addison as comfortable as possible.

"Yeah. Thanks Mark." Addison replies. Mark sets Henry with her on the bed and leaves to get the play pen. He brings it in, takes Henry from Addison, and puts him down in the play pen.

"How long are you planning on staying?" Addison asks, hoping to get an early date.

"I don't know. It depends if Sam needs my help or not." Mark replies.

"Don't you have a girl waiting for you in Seattle? Or a bunch of girls? I thought you had something going with Little Grey? What happened to that?" Addison asks, not knowing Lexie died.

"She's dead, Addison! She died," Mark yells, almost ready to cry.

"Oh, Mark, I'm so sorry. Was she on the…" Addison doesn't get a chance to finish, Mark cuts her off.

"Plane? Yes." Now he starts crying.

"Come here. Come here, Mark." Mark doesn't move. "Either you come here or I come there, and I'm on bed rest. Take your pick." He gets up now, and slowly wanders over to the bed, his head hanging. He sits beside Addison and she pulls him into a comforting hug. Now he completely breaks down.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay. It's okay to cry Mark. It's okay." Addison doesn't really know what to say to him.

"I really loved her, I didn't tell her until he was in front of me, dying."

"I bet she knew. Girls always know." Addison tries to comfort him. It doesn't work.

"She didn't know. She told me she loved me less then a week earlier. All I could do was stand there and stare at her." Mark cries another round of sobs.

"I think, deep down, she knew. She just didn't want to say anything. I think she knew. It's okay, Mark, you're going to be okay. How're Derek and Meredith?" Addison is so desperate to get Mark to stop crying, she brings up her ex husband and his wife.

"Good, I guess." Mark replies.

"Did they have any kids?"

"They adopted a baby, Zola." Mark says, still sniffling a little.

"Oh, they didn't have any kids of their own?" Addison wonders why.

"Derek seems to like infertile women. No offence." Mark jokes.

"Oh." Addison replies, throwing her head back on the pillow. "None taken." She puts her hand on her stomach. Henry starts crying. Mark gets up to get him. He lifts him up on to the bed.

"Hey, little guy," Addison coos, taking Henry from Mark.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Oh, this look promisin', Coop." Charlotte says as they follow the realtor into the third house of the day.

"It does, but that's also what you said about the…" Cooper stops talking as they walk through the door. "Wow." He says, awestruck.

"This is gorgeous." Charlotte adds. They are looking at a beautiful living room with a stone fireplace and deep colored, hard wood floors. The kitchen has stainless steel appliances, an island with three stools, a sink at the island, and a dishwasher. There is another sink next to the fridge, about three feet of counter space, the oven, then more counter space, leading into the corner. There is a modern dining table with six chairs evenly spaced apart on the other side of the fridge. There is a staircase in the far right corner of the living room, and at the top of the stairs there is a hallway, with six doors leading into other rooms and a closet at the end of the hall. The first and second door on either side of the hall are meant to be bedrooms, and the third rooms on either side of the hall are the bathroom and playroom. Charlotte and Cooper walk into the master suite and see the master bathroom with a massive shower (built for two), jacuzzi tub, and dual sinks. The other three bedrooms aren't anything special.

"They were left for the owners to decorate but they never go to it, they figured the new owners would want to decorate them for the kids." The realtor says.

"I really like this place, Coop." Charlotte says.

"Me too." Cooper agrees.

"Wait until you see the back yard. It's beautiful." The realtor adds.

Cooper and Charlotte follow her out to the back yard, as it turns out, she was right, it is beautiful. The house was far enough from the beach that they wouldn't have to worry about the kids finding the water until they were older, but still close enough that they could go to the beach anytime they wanted to. There was a pool, rock garden, and patio in the back yard, along with another Jacuzzi. The pool was just the right size. Shallow enough for the kids, but deep enough that when they were older they could still enjoy it. This house was exactly what they were looking for.

"How much would all this cost us?" Charlotte asks.

"Believe it or not, it is not far out of your budget. Plus, you did tell me a little over would be okay, for your dream house, so I did go a little over. We can talk numbers later." The realtor says, a smile spreading across her face.

A few hours later, Cooper and Charlotte are back in the loft, sitting in bed.

"I think we should take it, Coop. I was everything we want. AND, it's ready to move in to. I don't want to just be settlin' in when the babies are born."

"Yeah, but are you sure it's worth the extra money?"

"Yes,"

"Are you sure about this?" Cooper doesn't want to jump in just yet, but he knows Charlotte is right. "It's a little fast, don't you think?"

"Yes, I'm sure, and it is a bit fast, but we need a bigger place to live. Did you talk to Erica about her moving into the loft?" Charlotte asks.

"She said Mason thought it was a good idea. He already knows the place like the back of his hand. She seemed to like the idea. If you really want the house, I'll call the realtor in the morning. Are you sure? This is the last time I'm asking." Cooper wants Charlotte to be sure.

"I am one hundred percent sure." She leans over and gives him a kiss.

"I'll call the realtor in the morning, then." He kisses her back.

"Goodnight." She says, flipping the switch on the lamp next to her bed.

"Goodnight," He replies, turning his lamp off.

Two weeks later, they are loading the moving truck to take all of their stuff to the new house. Erica and Mason are coming here later today with most of their stuff. The loft is significantly smaller than the house they were renting, so a few things are going to the new house with Charlotte and Cooper, and some of the stuff is going into storage. Some of the furniture is already at the new house, so Charlotte and Cooper are only moving boxes now. Actually, Cooper and the movers are moving boxes because Cooper won't let Charlotte lift anything because she's pregnant. When the truck is all loaded up and the loft is nearly empty, they take off. Twenty minutes later, Cooper and the movers are putting boxes in the house. Charlotte gets straight to work, taking lamps, blankets, and clothes out of boxes and putting them in the master bedroom. Next, she moves on to the bathroom, putting towels, soap, and other bathroom necessities where they belong. She goes down to the kitchen to see Cooper has already started putting pots, pans, plates, and other tableware away in the cupboards. He's almost finished. They finish putting away what they have, and sit down to make a list of all the things they need to buy when they go shopping on the weekend.

"Baby furniture." Cooper says first.

"Just the furniture. No blankets, no paint, none of that, yet. I want to know what we're having before we get too much stuff."

"Good call."

"We need some stuff for Mason's room, too."

"Right. We should take him with us on the weekend."

"While we get baby furniture?"

"He's going to have to know sometime. We might as well just tell him, Coop."

"Okay. I'll see is he wants to come with us on the weekend." Cooper and Charlotte finish their list, then they head off to bed. It's been a long day.

_Author's Note: To those of you that are saying Mason isn't around, he is, and so is Erica. I will try to be updating as much as twice daily, but when school starts up again I may not be able to. I will try to update as much as possible until I go back to school. I will be alternating between AddiSam storylines and CharCoop storylines. Thanks for reading! _


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Mark, it's been almost three weeks since the wedding, when are you going home?" Addison has been getting really impatient with Mark in the last few days.

"I'm not going back to Seattle." Mark says.

"Why not? Where are you going?" Addison asks.

"I was planning on staying here, but I might head back to New York, seeing that you don't want me here," Mark says, looking at the floor.

"Mark, it's not that I don't want you here, it's just, Sam and I, we, we thought it was just going to be us. You know? We're newlyweds, Mark." Addison says, sympathetically. "If you stay in LA, then you have to get your own place. I mean it. Within a week, you are not living in a hotel. I mean it." Addison adds.

"Fine," Mark says.

"And, you are not this baby's father, not ever. You can be the cool uncle, got it? Birthday presents and all that stuff. No dropping in everyday to change and feed her. Got it?" Addison really wants to get her point across.

"Cool Uncle Mark. Got it." He says. "When will Sam be back?" Mark asks.

"Should be soon. He was just going to get groceries and some last minute baby stuff." Addison's phone beeps. "That's him. He's just leaving the store. He'll be home in twenty minutes. Forty-five minutes pass, and Addison is getting worried. Her phone rings again.

"Addison," Amelia says from the other end.

"Amelia? What's wrong?" Addison sound worried.

"Addison, don't panic. Sam was in a minor accident, he's fine. Don't freak out. He's at St. Ambrose now."

"What happened?" Addison is starting to freak out, though Amelia told her not to.

"He just has a minor concussion and some other minor wounds. Stay at home. We got everything here covered. Stay calm, he'll be home in a couple of hours." Amelia is trying her best to be reassuring, but it isn't going to well.

"Let me talk to him."

"I can't. No cell phone use in the hospital, remember?"

"Yeah, okay. Get him to call me as soon as he can, okay?"

"Okay. Addie, I got to go. Incoming trauma. I'll get him to call you from the nurse's station, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Amelia. Bye."

"Bye."

Addison turns to Mark. "That was Amelia. Sam was in an accident. He just has a minor concussion and some other minor wounds. He'll be home in a couple of hours." Addison says.

"That's good." Mark says. Amelia calls back a few hours later, but this time Mark picks up.

"Amy? What's up?" Mark asks quietly because Addison had just fallen asleep.

"Sam has a brain bleed. The concussion was worse than we thought. I'm taking him into surgery now. Where's Addie?"

"Sleeping. Should I wake her? I don't think it would be a good idea."

"Yeah, no. Don't wake her. She'll just force you to bring her here. She needs to stay in bed. I'll call again when I get out of surgery. Put the phone on vibrate and keep it in your pocket or something."

"How bad is it?" Mark asks.

"Not very, but it would be a terrible idea to let it go untreated. I have to go. I'll call back in a few hours. You should try to get some sleep."

"Yeah. I will." Mark says, then he hangs up. He slowly drifts off to sleep.

After about four decent hours of sleep, Mark wakes up to the vibrating of Addison's phone.

"Amy, how'd it go?" Mark whispers, trying not to disturb Addison.

"Good. Everything went really well. He'll have to stay here for a week, standard to brain surgery, though."

"Addison won't be happy about that. I'm going to have to bring her in, eventually."

"Yeah, I know. Just try to keep her there as long as possible. Call me before you bring her in." Amelia tells Mark.

"I will. Do you have a plan?"

"Not really, just don't let her walk. I can set up a cot in Sam's room, and get her a wheelchair, but that's about as relaxed as it gets around here. Maybe don't tell her too many specifics until she gets really worried. Don't let her freak out, though. Tell her once she is here she can't leave. Either she stays here of she stays at home. Let her choose. Just don't let her get freak out. Call me before you come in, okay? I have to go."

"Okay. I'll keep her here as long as I can, but I can't guarantee anything. I should go, too. Bye." Mark says. He hangs up and goes downstairs to make a pot of coffee. He sits on the sofa and turns on the news. About two hours later, Addison calls from upstairs.

"Mark? Where's Sam?" Addison calls.

"I'm coming." Mark calls back. When he gets upstairs, Addison is sitting on he bed, tears in her eyes.

"Where's Sam?" Addison asks, her voice breaking.

"He had to stay at the hospital. Amelia had to open him up. He's fine. Amelia said you shouldn't worry."

"I shouldn't worry? I shouldn't worry!? What did you think would happen when you told me that? I wouldn't freak out?" Now Addison is freaking out.

"Addison, calm down. You need to stay calm, or you'll go into pre-term labor. Do you want that?" Mark questions.

"No." Addison is slowly starting to calm down.

"Good. Amelia said I could take you to see him in a few days. You need to stay calm. Okay?" Mark says.

"Okay, how soon can I see him?" Addison mumbles, sniffling.

"How long can you wait?"

"Not very."

"If you go today you can't some home until he does."

"Okay, that's fine, let's go." Addison starts to get out of bed.

"What about Henry?" Marks looks down at Henry, who is still sleeping in his play pen.

"I'll take him to Violet's."

"Addison, you need to stay in bed as long as possible. I'm sure he wants to see you, too, but you need to stay here."

"Mark."

"You can't be in this much stress, it's not good for the baby."

"Mark." Addison says, calmly trying to get his attention.

"If you leave here now, what's to stop you from going into labor?" Mark is rambling on.

"Mark."

"Sam probably doesn't want to see you like this, anyway. You're crying, you're stressed," Mark tries to continue.

"Mark! Shut up! Just, just shut up. For a minute, shut up."

"What?" Mark looks hurt.

"Aah," Addison moans.

"What? Is it the baby?"

"Yeah, I think I'm having a contraction." Addison says, clutching her abdomen.

"Okay, okay, I'm, uh, I'm going to, uh, call Amelia, and tell her, that, uh, we are coming to the hospital." Mark is having a panic attack as he dials.

"Mark, give me the phone," Addison says, holding her hand out.

"Mark?" Amelia says from the other line.

"Amelia, how's Sam?" Addison asks.

"He's doing good. He just woke up. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Not right now, we're coming in."

"Addison, you should really stay at home," Amelia debates.

"I'm having contractions. Mark is packing the bag now. We'll be there soon."

"Oh. Okay. I'll meet you at the front of the hospital."

_Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long. I need some suggestions for names!_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Ouch." Cooper groans from under the crib.

"Why do you need to be under there to put it together?" Charlotte asks, confused.

"I'm tightening screws. I don't want the thing to fall apart when we put our child in it."

"Well, it's gettin' late and you still have another one to put together tomorrow." Charlotte is nine weeks pregnant, and the nausea has shown little mercy and few signs of slowing down.

"You go to bed. I'll be there soon."

"Dad?" Mason yells from his room. It's his night with Cooper.

"Yeah," Cooper replies, pulling himself from under the crib.

"Are you coming to my recital tomorrow?" Mason asks. He has a band recital tomorrow. He's been learning to play the trumpet.

"Charlotte and I will be there." Cooper yells in reply.

"Good. Goodnight." Mason yells.

"Goodnight." Charlotte and Cooper reply in unison.

"We should be goin' to bed, too, Coop." Charlotte tells Cooper.

"Okay." Cooper says, pulling himself from the floor. "I was finished with this one, anyway."

"Good." Charlotte says, grabbing his arm and walking out of the room with him.

The next day, after lunch, Cooper and Charlotte are on their way to Mason's recital.

"We should start thinking about names. For the babies."

"Now?" Cooper asks.

"Just thinking. We won't pick one for a while. We should each pick two boy's names and two girls'."

"Sounds good." Cooper smiles. "Here we are." Cooper says as he pulls the car into the school parking lot. When they get into the school auditorium, they immediately go to the front row, but there are no empty seats so they settle for the second row. Erica comes to sit with them.

"Hey." She says.

"Hey." Cooper replies.

After about ten minutes of waiting, the curtain goes up. The whole band is sitting on-stage. The conductor asks everyone to stand for the national anthem. When the anthem is over, the band does two more songs as a whole, then groups of instruments perform a song. Clarinets, trombones, saxophones, then trumpets. Each player in the trumpet section gets their own piece, because they are such a loud instrument. Erica, Cooper, and Charlotte clap and cheer the loudest of anyone in the crowd. After the show is over, Mason comes to find them.

"That was great!" Erica yells when he finds them. She pulls him into a big hug.

"Mom, my friends are somewhere around here!" Mason mumbles under his breath.

"You were really great up there, Mason!" Charlotte says. Her pager goes off. "Oh, darn. I got to go. I'm sorry, Mase. I'll see you tonight, okay?" Charlotte says, looking at her pager. "Are you comin' with me now or can you get a ride?" Charlotte says, looking at Cooper.

"I'll give him a ride." Erica tells Charlotte.

"Thanks." Charlotte says. "I'll see you later." She turns to leave.

When Charlotte arrives at the hospital, it's really bustling, more than usual. Amelia is standing at the nurses station in the ER.

"Why does everything seem so hectic?" Charlotte asks.

"There's a bunch of traumas coming in. And Sam was in a car accident last night, so Addison was freaking out, now she's here. On the OB floor. She was having contractions this morning. Last I checked she was four centimeters, that was like, an hour ago. Speaking of which, I should go check on her…" Amelia trails off.

"How's Sam?"

"He's upset because I won't let him leave his room. He wants to be with Addison. I told him Mark was with her and he could go up when it was time to push." Amelia says.

"Well, I'm goin' to go see how Addison's doin'. I'll see you later." Charlotte says, turning towards the elevator. When she gets up to Addison's room, she is laying in bed, appearing to be very exhausted.

"Hey. How's to goin'?" Charlotte asks.

"Better since we got the epidural." Mark says.

"Alright, I guess." Addison sighs.

"Good. Have you talked to Sam at all?" Charlotte asks.

"I saw him before we came up here. He seemed to be doing fine." Addison says, sighing again.

"Well, I'm goin' to see him right away." Charlotte looks at Addison.

"Could you give him an update? Amelia was supposed to be updating him, but I heard something big was coming in so she might have gotten held up."

"Yeah, I can let him know. How far dilated are you?"

"Six centimeters. Contractions are about six minutes apart. Thanks, Charlotte."

"Six and six. Got it." Charlotte smiles as she leaves the room. When she gets back to Sam's room, he is laying in bed, twiddling his thumbs.

"You don't look too happy." Charlotte notes.

"I'm not. Have you seen Addison yet?" Sam asks.

"Yes, she's six centimeters dilated and contractions are six minutes apart. How are you?"

"Fine, I guess. I was hoping you'd be able to pull some strings?" Sam hints, smiling.

"Maybe a few, but not too many, you are still recovering from brain surgery, Sam. You know that." Sam nods, then his face goes blank. "Sam?" Charlotte tries to get his attention. Before she knows it, Sam is having a full-on seizure.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey everybody. Sorry i haven't updated in a couple of days. I've been really busy. I'll try to post two chapter tomorrow if i can, but there is no promise on that. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

Chapter 11

"How's Sam?" Addison asks as Amelia walks into the room.

"He's alright. He won't stop complaining, though."

"Yup, that's Sam. Was there a big trauma or something? I was starting to get a little worried about you. I didn't think you'd ever come back."

"Yeah, a four car pile up, then some idiot on a motorcycle managed to get his helmet-less head into the mix. He was practically DOA. I only had to call it. There were three other patients I had to consult on. Sorry about that." Amelia apologizes.

"That's okay. Ahhh," Addison says. "Contraction." She grabs Mark's hand. Amelia's pager goes off. It's Sam.

"Crap, one of the car crash victims is seizing. I got to go." Amelia says, turning on her heel. It wasn't a total lie. Sam was a car crash victim. She didn't want to freak Addison out any more than she already was. As soon as she is out of the room, her hurried walk turns into a run.

"What happened?" Amelia yells as she runs into the room.

"He had a seizure." Charlotte turns to look at Amelia. "He was fine one minute, the next, he was seizing." Charlotte says.

"Okay, uhm, let's take him up for a head CT, to see if there was any damage. Page me when you get the results back." Amelia looks sincerely worried. What if there was brain damage? What if he isn't the same Sam he was before all of this?

About thirty minutes later, Amelia is sitting at the nurse's station outside Sam's room when her pager goes off again.

"Crap, crap, crap!" She yells when she sees who is paging. It's a "911" from Charlotte. She runs to the CT Tech room.

"What now?" Amelia asks.

"His bleed opened up again, and it's bleeding pretty fast." Charlotte says, looking at Sam's scans on the computer monitor.

"Okay. Book an OR for as soon as possible." Amelia tells the nurse, with a concerned look on her face.

"Okay." Charlotte says. Amelia walks into the CT room to see if Sam is awake or not. He isn't.

"Amelia, I'm going to check on Addison." Charlotte tells Amelia through the intercom. Amelia gives her a thumbs up. When Charlotte gets back to Addison's room, she is having a contraction. Mark has a sour look on his face. It must be because Addison is squeezing his hand to the point where he's sure he'll need a tensor bandage or even a cast. Charlotte waits for it to pass before she says anything.

"Hey." Addison says, throwing her head against the pillow. "How's Sam?"

"He's … uh, he had a seizure."

"What?!" Addison yells.

"He's in CT now. His bleed opened up again. Amelia is taking him into surgery soon."

"Oh." Addison looks like she's ready to cry.

"Hey, I'm sure he'll be fine. Okay? Amelia is great. Try to stay calm, okay?" Mark says to Addison. She nods.

"He'll be okay, right?" Addison looks to Charlotte for reassurance.

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Owww." Addison grabs Mark's hand as another contraction rips through her body.

"Well, I have to go. Page if you need anything." Charlotte smiles and turns to leave.

"How are things going?" Charlotte asks Amelia when she reaches the OR.

"I'm barley started, I don't know how bad it will be until I get further in." Amelia doesn't turn away from the brain she is staring at. The monitors start beeping and making horrible noises.

"What's that?" Charlotte asks. She never was very fascinated with the human brain and never took much time to study it.

"The bleed is advancing really fast. Those are just warnings." Amelia looks at the monitors then quickly gets back to work.

"Okay. I'm going to my office to do some paper work. Page me if you need me." Charlotte leaves the OR to go to her office. She figures some boring-as-hell paper work might take her mind off of everything. Between her babies, Addison, and Sam, she had too much to think about. And so did Amelia. "I should drag her to a meetin'." Charlotte thinks to herself. After a few hours of paper work her pager goes off. It's Amelia. She hurries off to Sam's room, where Amelia is outside waiting for her.

"Hey, you paged?" Charlotte asks.

"Yeah. There were some more complications in the surgery. There is a large possibility of brain damage. We won't know anymore until he wakes up."

"Okay. You want to go to a meetin'?"Charlotte asks.

"Yes."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Ouch." Mark says, shaking his hand.

"You're in pain?" Addison asks, sarcastically.

"You have quite the grip, so yes, I'm in pain." Mark says. "I don't know how much more of this I can take."

"You, you are talking to me about being in pain?" Addison asks with a look in her eye.

"Yes." Mark smiles.

"Whatever."

"What the…" Sam is alone, with only his thoughts to accompany him. He sees nothing but blackness.

"Where the hell am I?!" Sam tries to yell, but it seems he is the only one who can hear him. It's almost like he's yelling in his head. Suddenly, all the memories come rushing back. The wedding, the accident, the surgery, everything.

"Comatose." Sam says to himself. Whether it was permanent or not was out of his field or expertise.

"Wake up!" Sam yells at himself repeatedly to force his body to wake up. It doesn't work.

"Hey!" Amelia says as she walks into Addison's room. "How are you?"

"She just got some pain meds, so she's almost out." Mark says.

"No, I'm here." Addison mumbles with her eyes closed. "How's Sam?" Addison opens her eyes to look at Amelia.

"He's alright. He hasn't woken up yet, but he's not going down-hill. I think he should be awake soon."

"Will he be able to come up here?" Mark asks. Amelia doesn't say anything, she just looks at her hands that are sitting on the table at the end of Addison's bed.

"I don't think so." Amelia says.

"Oh." Addison says with tears in her eyes.

"If he's awake, I can see about bringing him up, but I'm not sure." The OB resident walks into the room.

"I need to check you again." She says to Addison.

"Okay." Addison tells her as Amelia moves the table out of the way. The OB does her thing.

"Alright, looks like it's time to push." She tells Addison. Amelia moves to Addison's hand and grabs it.

"No! You have to go check on Sam! He's supposed to be here!" Addison yells at Amelia and then screams as another contraction rips through her body.

"Push, Addie!" Mark yells.

"Go check on Sam!" Addison yells at Amelia. As Amelia leaves the room she hears screaming, coming from both Addison and Mark. When she gets down to Sam's room, he still hasn't woken up. She checks his brain function, which isn't looking promising.

"Crap." She mumbles. As she leaves the room to go back to Addison, she hears a sound. It sounds like choking. She whips her head back around, but nothing. Sam is still laying there, nearly lifeless. Her pager starts making noises.

"Seriously? Seriously!" She yells as she reads the 'incoming trauma' message on her pager. She immediately runs down to the ER to see how bad things are and to see how long it will be before she can get back to Addison. She meets Charlotte in the ER.

"What's coming?" Amelia asks, hurriedly.

"Literally, three idiots on motorcycles crashed into each other."

"What the hell!?" Amelia is dumb founded by the amount of idiots in this city.

"The first two crashed into each other, then the third guy couldn't stop fast enough to avoid gettin' stuck in the mix." Charlotte says.

"And all three of them are coming here?" Amelia asks.

"Now, just two of them. One was DOA."

"Perfect." Amelia is really disappointed.

A few hours later, when she is finished with the motorcycle idiots, she goes back to check on Addison. She is sitting in bed, holding a little pink bundle.

"Hey," Amelia says quietly as she walks into the room and to the opposite side of the bed as Mark.

"Hey." Addison says.

"What's her name?" Amelia asks.

"I was going to wait for Sam to make it official, but I like Kelsey Elise."

"Kelsey. That's perfect."

"Do you want to hold her?" Addison looks away from the baby for a moment.

"Yes." Amelia has a huge smile on her face. Addison reluctantly hands Amelia the baby. Amelia starts making cooing noises at her. "Aww. She's beautiful."

"She is." Addison smiles. "How's Sam?" Addison asks. "And what took you so long?"

"Sam hasn't woken up yet. There was a motorcycle pile up. Three idiots without helmets crashed into each other. Sorry about that."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It's been two weeks since Kelsey was born, and Amelia has been staying with Charlotte and Cooper to give Addison some space to breathe. Sam is still in the hospital, still in a coma, but things are looking up. Mark has been practically breathing down Amelia's neck. He hates to see Addison hurt like this, even if he is hurting just as much over the fact that she will probably never see him the way he sees her. Amelia is laying in bed, staring at the ceiling of Charlotte and Cooper's guest room. She decides to crawl out of bed. When she is dressed she walks to the bathroom and combs her hair. She can smell bacon. As she wanders downstairs, she slowly inhales and exhales, just to get a good lung full of that delicious smell.

"Something smells good." Amelia says, wandering into the kitchen.

"I, Charlotte King, have made breakfast." Charlotte announces proudly. She picks up the frying pan and flips some pancakes onto a platter in the center of the table. Cooper leans over and pecks her on the cheek. Amelia takes a few pancakes off the stack as Charlotte puts the pan in the sink and joins Amelia and Cooper at the table.

"How's Sam?" Cooper breaks the silence.

"It's hard to say. There is a good chance he will wake up, but there is also a good chance he won't." Amelia says after swallowing her first bite of pancakes. "This is really good, Charlotte." Amelia is trying to get the conversation off of Sam.

"She used a mix." Cooper smiles.

"Coop! I did not!"

"She's a horrible liar, too." Amelia adds.

"Yeah, I am." Charlotte laughs. "I have been cravin' these things like crazy." She shoves another huge forkful of syrup-doused pancakes into her mouth.

"How's the nursery coming?" Amelia asks.

"Well, we only have one crib put together, and the rest of the furniture is sitting in the boxes in the garage." Cooper says.

"Cooper's been to lazy to bring all of the boxes in." Charlotte points her fork at Cooper while looking at Amelia.

"Hey!" Cooper looks offended. Amelia and Charlotte smile at each other. "I just, haven't gotten to it, yet." Amelia's iPhone starts ringing. 'St. Ambrose' flashes across the screen. She answers.

"Dr. Shepherd, we need you at the hospital. It's Sam Bennett." A nurse on the other end of the line says. "He had another seizure."

"I'm leaving now. I'll be there in ten minutes." Amelia hangs up the phone and stands up. "It was the hospital. Sam had another seizure." Amelia looks at Charlotte and Cooper as she grabs her bag off of the back of her chair. She grabs her keys and walks out the door.

When she gets to the hospital, she finds that the nuero consult on call had given him drugs to stop the seizures. His brain was still seizing but his body was still.

"Oh, Sam." Amelia looks at the brain function on the monitor. It's jumping up and down in sharp, jagged jolts, indicating seizures. "Let's get a head CT and take it from there." Amelia walks over to Sam's bedside. She does a brief exam before the nurses come in to take him to CT. Amelia follows them up. On the elevator, she remembers Sam is married.

"Did anyone call Addison Montgomery?" Amelia asks, looking around the elevator.

"I don't think so." One of the nurses pipes up. "Should I?" She asks.

"No, I will. She'd want to hear it from someone she knows." When the elevator stops, Amelia immediately walks over to the nurses station and picks up the phone.

"Amelia?" Addison answers.

"Addie…" Amelia starts. Addison cuts her off.

"What happened? Did Sam wake up?" Addison sounds like she is starting to get excited.

"No. He's seizing. We have him in CT now. We couldn't stop the seizures." Amelia is almost ready to cry. This was not the way she was planning to start her morning.

"Oh." Addison is getting ready to cry now too. "I'm coming in. Mark can watch Kelsey."

"Addison," Amelia gets cut off again.

"Don't argue with me!" Addison hangs up. Amelia puts the phone down and walks into the CT Tech room. She looks at the monitor.

"Crap. He's bleeding again, and look, subdural hematoma. Damit!" Amelia says to the CT tech. She is really starting to get pissed off. She sits at the monitor looking at the scans for another ten minutes until Addison shows up.

"What happened?" Addison looks like she's been up all night crying.

"He got another brain bleed."

"Can you go in?"

"No. Not this time. I've never done this type of surgery before. He's got a subdural hematoma." Amelia refuses to look at Addison because she knows that the second she does she will burst into tears. "It's inoperable." Amelia's gaze turns from the monitor to the floor. Her lips start to get shaky. She quickly snaps herself out of it.

"So, there's no treatment plan?" Addison is starting to hyperventilate.

"No. There isn't."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"There's no treatment plan?" Addison is starting to hyperventilate.

"No, there isn't."

"You can't operate?"

"No. I can't." Amelia is trying to make this as clear as possible.

"You can't operate or no one can operate?" Addison is still standing in the doorway of the CT tech room. She's calmed down a little, but not enough to be considered calm. Tears are streaming down her face.

"I can't. I doubt anyone would. The mortality rate of this surgery…" Amelia doesn't want to tell her that ninety-eight percent of the people that have the surgery don't make it.

"What about the mortality rate?" Addison pushes Amelia to finish her sentence.

"Only a handful of people have survived the surgery. Less than two percent of patients survive." Amelia is still staring at the floor and Addison is still standing in the doorway, but now she has started crying. She falls to the floor on her knees with her head in her hands. "Addie…" Amelia is trying to be comforting without crying.

"There's no one out there that can do this?" Addison looks up at Amelia after a few minutes of crying.

"There's one person in the world that can do this."

"Derek." They say in unison.

* * *

Okay, so this one is really short, but another chapter will be coming VERY soon. I will try to get it up within a few hours. Please remember I am not a medical genius as of yet, so things might not be perfectly accurate. Bare with me, here.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"He's got an advanced subdural hematoma and a bleed. He was seizing, but we gave him drugs to stop it." Amelia tells Derek over the phone from the nurses station.

"Send me his scans. I'll see what I can do." Derek is sounding confidant, but isn't sure if Sam will survive the surgery.

"Thanks, Derek."

"I have a craniotomy in twenty minutes so I have to go. Bye." Derek hangs up and Amelia puts the phone on the hook to go talk to Addison.

"We have to send him his scans, he's not sure if he can do anything. Don't raise your hopes too much, alright?" Amelia is trying to keep Addison calm without getting her hopes up. Amelia checks Sam's monitors and leaves to get the scans to send to Derek. A few hours later, she gets a phone call.

"I think I can save him. I'm getting on a plane in a few hours. I'm bringing Meredith and Zola. I'll be there in six hours. I have to get packed. I'll see you in a bit. Bye."

"Thanks Derek. Bye." Amelia walks into Sam's room, smiling.

"That was short and sweet." Addison had overheard the entire conversation.

"He was busy getting packed. He's getting on a plane in a few hours." Amelia smiles at Addison. "He thinks he can save him. Try not to get your hopes up, okay?"

"I know." Addison starts grinning. "I'm going to call Mark." She gets up to leave the room.

"Hey, Addison, how's it going?" Mark asks on the other end of the line.

"Derek is coming out. He thinks he can save him." Addison tells Mark.

"That's great! Do you want me to come in?"

"No, just wait a few hours. When Derek gets here I'll call you."

"Okay." Addison hears crying in the background. "I got to go."

"Yeah. Bye." Addison presses the end button and puts the phone back in her bag. She goes back to sit with Sam. She eventually falls asleep. She is woken up a few hours later when Amelia comes in to check on Sam. Derek is standing at the nurses station talking to Charlotte. Addison gets up to talk to him. Derek has a funny look on his face when Addison looks at him like Sam is a puppy that just got kicked in the face and he is the only veterinarian in the world.

"Addison, why do you look like you've been crying?" Derek doesn't know Addison is remarried.

"Amelia didn't tell you?" Addison sniffles.

"Tell me what?" Derek puts Sam's chart down on the counter.

"I'm remarried." Addison sniffles again.

"Okay, to whom?" Derek confused.

"Sam. I'm married to Sam."

"Oh. Well, that doesn't complicate things at all." Derek laughs. He takes a minute to let it soak in before he says anything else. "Meredith is in the cafeteria with Zola. Could you go check on her for me?"

"Sure." Addison slowly leaves the ICU floor and goes to the cafeteria. She finds Meredith sitting with Zola at a table.

"Hey, Addison." Meredith smiles.

"Hey. How are you?" Addison asks, trying to force a smile.

"I'm alright. I think I should be asking you. You look like you've been crying for two weeks straight."

"Pretty much." Addison sits down.

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Sam is my husband. We got married about a month ago."

"Oh. Congratulations. And, I'm sorry, I guess." Meredith frowns. Zola is sitting in her highchair, making little noises.

"How's the Attending life treating you?" Addison asks.

"Alright, I guess. I like having more time in the evening to be at home. I seem to be getting more tired every day." Meredith takes a bite of her sandwich.

"Why is that?"

"Uhm, I'm pregnant." Meredith scoots back in the chair to reveal a little baby bump. Addison judges her to be about twenty weeks.

"Oh… I was wondering why Derek brought you down here. Congratulations."

"I'm still trying to figure out why he dragged me down here, too. I think it's either because he wanted you to take a look at me or he wanted to be an over-protective husband. Probably both." Meredith laughs.

"Yeah, probably both. Mark told me when he showed up that you weren't planning on having any more kids."

"I didn't know I was pregnant when Mark left. I was already twelve weeks when I found out. I didn't have many symptoms. I'm nineteen weeks now."

"That's seven weeks. He was only here for five weeks. I wonder where he was. Did Derek ever say anything about where he was?"

"He said he was either coming here or going to New York. He must've been in New York for a few weeks."

"Yeah, I guess so. I told Mark I'd call him when you guys got here, so I should go do that. I'll be right back." Addison pulled out her phone and walked away from the tale to call Mark.

"Addison, is Derek there?" Mark asks over the phone.

"Yeah, he just got here. He thinks he can do it, Mark!" Addison sounds really happy.

"That's great! I'll bring Kelsey in right away."

"Okay. Bye." Addison hangs up and goes back to the table where Meredith is sitting, feeding Zola. She's two years old now, so she can sort of feed herself, but she is making one heck of a mess. "She's adorable." Addison smiles as she sits back down at the table.

"Yeah, she is." Meredith smiles back. "Do you have any kids?"

"Yeah, Henry, he's a little younger than Zola. I adopted him. Then there's Kelsey. She was born two weeks ago. She's precious. Mark is bringing them in now." Addison smiles.

"Kelsey's yours?"

"Yeah."

"Sounds like the perfect family. You, Sam, the kids."

"We were. Before the accident. Sam never got a chance to meet Kelsey. He slipped into a coma right around the time she was born."

"I'm sorry. I hope Derek can help, I really do."

"Me too." Addison's phone gets a text. It's from Mark. "I have to go. I'll see you later." Addison smiles at Meredith and shakes Zola's little hand before she gets up to meet Mark at the door. On her way to the door she starts thinking. 'What if he dies? What will I do?' She knows Mark will always be there for her, and Amelia, but what if he dies? She has kids, she can't just shut down, she can't feel all of her feelings at once, there are minimal amounts of things she would be able to do. They were finally happy. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this. She was supposed to be at home with her husband and her fat little babies. She wasn't supposed to practically be living at the hospital while the father of her second child was at home with her kids. How the hell did her life get this messed up?

Mark comes into the hospital with a diaper bag on one arm, Henry on his hand, and a baby carrier in the other. Henry lit up when he saw Addison.

"Mommy!" Henry yelled. He had a very tiny vocabulary, and 'Mommy' was one of the few words in it.

"Hey, Sweetie!" Addison walks up to Henry and lifts him up. "Was Uncle Mark being nice at home?" Addison asks in her 'I'm speaking to small children' voice.

"Yeah." Henry said. "Uncle Mark gives me ice cream!" Henry has a lot of energy, and now Addison knows why.

"He did?!" She looks at Mark with a 'You shouldn't have done that, but thanks' look on her face.

"I wanna see daddy." Henry demanded.

"Well, we can't see him right now because the doctors are working on him. We can see him later." Addison turns to Mark. "Let's go to the cafeteria instead, okay?"

"Okay." Henry mumbles, clearly upset that he doesn't get to see his dad. "Can I see Daddy later?"

"Maybe."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Are you promisin' me that if I give you privileges in my hospital, you'll save a life?" Charlotte is trying to decide if she should give the best neurosurgeon in the world rights to cut in her hospital. She is going to do it, she just wants to see how high he will jump when she him tells to.

"I'm not promising anything, except that I'll try." Derek is his same witty self.

"Fine." Charlotte gives in. She gives him what Derek only knows as the 'Bailey stare-down.'

"Good." Derek turns to leave. He runs into Addison. She has a toddler on her hip and a diaper bag on her other shoulder. Mark is close behind her with Kelsey in the baby carrier.

"Can you do it?" Addison asks.

"I just got privileges, so yeah, I'm going to try. We don't have much time. I'll have to go in in the next few hours or the bleed will be too advanced to do anything." Derek looks at Mark. "So, you've been bumming around here?"

"Yes, he has. And he wont leave." Addison answers for Mark.

"When Sam wakes up, I might." Mark looks at Derek.

"Or not." Addison finishes Mark's sentence. "How are things in Seattle?" Addison asks.

"Alright. The hospital has a lot of new staff."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We lost a lot of talented residents. Meredith is the last one from her class." Derek says.

"Oh." Addison mumbles. "What happened to Karev?" Derek gives Addison a funny look. "… And Yang?" Addison adds quickly to make it sound like she didn't just ask about Alex Karev.

"Yang is at Mayo and Karev is at Johns Hopkins."

"Hmm." Addison doesn't know what to say. It's great that Karev got into Hopkins. She can barely believe it. "How's Sam?" Addison takes the subject off of Karev.

"I don't know, Addie… It's a risky surgery. Even if he survives, there's brain damage, and the risk of a re-bleed…" Derek trails off, not wanting to get Addison too worried or go into too many specifics.

"I know."

"When are you going in?" Mark asks. Derek looks at his watch.

"About two hours." He looks up.

"Good." Mark says.

"I should go. I'll see you in pre-op." Derek turns to leave, the smile on his face fading as soon as Addison can't see it anymore. He gets a text from Meredith.

'_Where are you? I'm in the cafeteria.'_

'_I'm on my way.' _Derek replies.

"What if he dies, Mark? What will I do?" Addison almost starts crying again but stops herself.

"You can lean on me. I'll catch you." Mark looks at Addison, sadness in his eyes.

"I don't think that will be enough." Addison looks over to the baby carrier beside Mark. He's sitting on the couch in Sam's room and Addison is on the chair beside his bed. Kelsey is crying. "Give her to me." Addison stands up to take Kelsey from Mark. Kelsey almost immediately calm down when Addison picks her up.

"I think she just needed her Mommy." Mark smiles.

"Yeah, maybe." Addison bounces Kelsey in her lap. She stops crying and about twenty minutes later she is sleeping in Addison's arms.

"I'll put her back in the carrier." Mark holds his hands out. Henry is asleep on the cot that Amelia set up in Sam's room. Addison hands Kelsey back to Mark. "You should try to get some sleep." Mark starts. "It's going to be a long next few days." He looks at Addison with sympathetic eyes.

"Yeah, I guess." She makes no movement to get any more comfortable. Another half hour later she is sleeping with her head on her arms that are folded on the side of Sam's bed. Addison and Mark are awoken by Derek a few hours later.

"Addison." Derek wakes her up as gently as possible.

"Hmm?" Addison mumbles tiredly.

"We're taking him up to surgery, now."

"Oh. Okay." She rises, still a little shaky from being asleep just thirty seconds ago. She places a quick kiss on Sam's bald head and watches as Amelia, Derek, and two other nurses wheel Sam's bed out of the room. Addison's eyes start watering uncontrollably. Mark gets out of his chair to comfort her.

"It'll be okay, it's okay."


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: 'Kay, so I told you guys that I'd have this up like, two days ago, but I am really sorry for that. Grey's was on, I got really side tracked, life goes on. So, here it is. WARNING: There are spoilers for the Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice season 9 and 6 premieres in the second note at the bottom. If you haven't watched either of these and still plan too, I suggest you don't read this chapter until after you have finished.

Chapter 17

Sam has been in surgery for three hours now, with at least four more to come. Addison has finally fallen asleep next to Henry on the cot in Sam's room. Mark has been watching Kelsey for the last little while. Addison hasn't been sleeping much lately, and surprisingly, he has been sleeping all right at night. He just managed to get Kelsey to sleep, so he decides he'll try to get some rest, too. If this doesn't go Addison's way, she'll need him bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Charlotte is sitting in her office with more paperwork. She's got a mug of coffee sitting on her desk, even though she knows she can't drink it. Just the smell of fresh coffee helps. Cooper walks in.

"Hey." Cooper smiles, but it's one of those guilty smiles.

"Hey." Charlotte looks up from her desk to see his guilty smile. "What did you do?"

"Okay, it's really nothing." Cooper looks at the coffee suspiciously.

"I wasn't drinkin' it. What did you do?" Charlotte glares.

"Your mother is coming out!" Cooper says in the happiest voice he can muster, trying to make it sound like it wasn't his fault and it's extremely exciting.

"You called her?!"

"Not really, she called to talk to you and I picked up the phone and one thing led to another and I just assumed that you had already told her, and now she knows." Cooper smiles again.

"Cooper!" Charlotte is glaring the best that she can.

"She's getting on a plane tonight! Love you!" Cooper says as he's walking back towards the door.

"Coop!" Charlotte yells after him. He keeps walking, leaving her back to her work. Charlotte sighs. A few hours later, Charlotte gets paged to Sam's room. When she gets there, Addison, Mark, Amelia, Derek, and Meredith are in his room. Meredith is staying out of the way, off in the corner. Derek and Amelia are standing at the foot of the bed. Mark is standing next to Addison who is sitting in the chair next to the bed. Charlotte figures Violet took the kids.

"How'd it go?" Charlotte asks as she walks into the room, looking first at Addison then at Amelia, then to Derek. As she gets around the bed to the side opposite the door, she sees that Addison is crying softly. "Shepherd?"

Derek and Amelia both look up.

"Derek." Charlotte turns her gaze to Derek, who is staring at Sam's feet under the blanket.

"We don't know."

"When will we?" Derek doesn't answer.

"A few hours, maybe." Amelia pipes up.

"Can I talk to you outside?" Charlotte looks at Derek then to Amelia. They follow as she turns to leave. They make their way to Charlotte's office. When they arrive at the door, Charlotte opens it and allows Derek and Amelia to walk in. Charlotte closes the door as Derek and Amelia take a seat in front of her desk.

"What the hell was that about?" Charlotte sits down at her desk and watches as Derek looks at the floor and Amelia just stares at him.

"He's not going to wake up." Amelia turns to Charlotte.

"How do you know?"

"There was too much brain damage. There's no chance of him getting any better." Amelia starts staring at the floor with a depressed frown on her face. Charlotte leans back in her chair, taking a deep breath.

"Why couldn't you tell me this in front of Addison?"

"Why do you think?" The truth was, both Derek and Amelia love Addison too much to tear her world apart. "They just got married." Amelia adds emphasis on the word 'married' to make sure that she got her point across. A small tear comes to her eye and she is quick to wipe it away. She looks up to Charlotte with hurt, sad, puppy-dog eyes. Charlotte assesses the look on her face quickly, making words out of the sadness. There is a long silence before Charlotte says anything.

"You want me to tell her?" Charlotte sees the point. It's bad enough that Sam is brain-dead, but Amelia has to tell Addison. This would definitely be an excuse to start using again. Charlotte is stronger than that. She's been sober for years, now. Amelia is barely sober eighteen months. Derek has been staring at the ground for the entire conversation, simply unwilling to talk. Amelia nods. "Fine," Charlotte says, with no emotion, what-so-ever.

"Give her more time." Derek finally says something.

"Wait until she knows he won't get any better. They longer you wait, the less it will hurt to hear it." Amelia looks at Charlotte again.

"I will. You two should get some sleep. You both look like crap."

"You need sleep, too." Amelia knows Charlotte hasn't been sleeping much lately, both between Sam, moving into the new house, and the babies, all on top of holding two jobs and already having Mason at home.

"I know." Charlotte's southern accent is prominent. She sits back in her chair and puts her hand on her abdomen, unconsciously. She dismisses then two Shepherds and does some paperwork, as there will always be paper work waiting for her, haunting her. It takes awhile before she realizes she does need to sleep. She's been yawning repeatedly and can't seem to stop her eyes from drooping. She walks over to the couch in her office and takes off her lab coat. She lies down and drifts off to sleep.

Addison has been watching Sam's face ever since Charlotte escorted Derek and Amelia out of the room. She's worried as she's ever been. She knows that Amelia and Derek did everything in their power to help, but he was comatose long before the surgery was even an option. She knows, deep down, that there is more of a chance of there being too much brain damage than there is of Sam ever waking up, but she's not letting the surgeon in her get the better of her. She's stronger than that.

A/N: Yeah, I killed Sam. At first I really didn't want too, but of any of you are following Shonda Rhimes on Twitter, and you've read the articles she tweeted recently, you'd know she was almost going to make Addie and Mark run off together, but she knew he'd never leave Sofia. SO, I'm not sure what I'll do just yet. As for getting Sam and Addison married and then killing him, that was NOT so that she could be with Jake. I don't like him much. But, seeing how happy he makes her makes it all right. If any of you are wondering about Callie, Arizona, and Sofia, all of that will be explained in a few chapters. I might end this story before I wanted too, but things change. BTW, I called twins. I was only one too low. Thanks for reading, as always!

-K


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Addison wakes up to the sound of Amelia walking into the room and dropping a chart on the table at the end of Sam's bed. Derek went home a few days ago, and Sam has been in the coma for more than two weeks, since the surgery. Addison is starting to lose hope. Amelia is strongly considering telling Charlotte to tell Addison that Sam isn't going to improve.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Amelia looks at Addison with sad eyes.

"That's okay." Her voice is raspy from being asleep and her eyes are droopy.

"Addison,"

"I'm working on it." Her voice was still a little raspy, but it was improving. She, at one point, just quit putting make-up on in the morning because it was either washed off by tears or she fell asleep before being able to wash it off. Mark was still bumming around and she was a little thankful that her kids didn't have to rely on her to be around for the time being. She was too occupied.

"Alright. I have to go see Charlotte. I'll talk to you later?" Amelia asks, closing the chart and putting it under her arm.

"Yeah. I guess," Addison mumbles.

Amelia is on her way to Charlotte's office to talk to her about Sam. Addison needs to know, now. He is deteriorating, and she knows it. Really, all that Charlotte would be doing is confirming her suspicions, but it still needs to be done. Sam doesn't deserve to be hooked up to twelve machines; he deserves to be let go. Amelia walks to Charlotte's office and knocks on the door, not waiting for a reply to be let in. Charlotte is sleeping on the couch. She wakes up right away, seeing Amelia standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Amelia giggles, realizing that this is the second time she's said that in the past twenty minutes or so.

"No, it's fine. It's about time I got up, anyways." Charlotte says, looking towards the clock on the table beside the couch. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah. Addison's a wreck."

"I should tell, her, is what you're implying."

"It's not doing her any good to be laying there, twenty hours a day, seven days a week." Amelia is sick of seeing Addison like this. Not that telling her would make anything better, but at least she's be at home, with her kids. She's barely ever home. All she ever wears is sweats, which is a major downgrade from her usual make-up, heels, and designer clothing. All she wears is sweats and flip-flops. And it's killing Amelia inside. Mark is feeling it, too.

"When should I tell her?" Charlotte doesn't want to be the one that pulls Addison away from Sam, but if Amelia does it, she will never be the same.

"Soon. Maybe tomorrow."

"Okay. You should get some sleep. You look like crap." Charlotte jokes.

"I would say that I look better than you, but you're kind of glowing. I'm gonna go home, maybe talk Mark into bringing the kids in to see Addison. I'll see you later." With that, Amelia turns and leaves, hearing Charlotte's phone ring as she closes the door behind her.

"Coop." Charlotte answers after seeing his name flash across the screen.

"Hey, you're mom just called. Her plane lands in twenty minutes." Cooper is so close to sleeping on the couch tonight, she thinks to herself.

"Oh. Can you go pick her up? I'm not in the mood to deal with a drunk." Charlotte sighs, lowering herself back onto the couch.

"I highly doubt she'll be drunk, Charlotte."

"It's not like airplanes don't have drinks or anything." Charlotte roles her eyes sarcastically.

"Fine."

"Just remember why she's here."

"'Cause I accidentally told her you were pregnant." Cooper drawls, disappointed with himself.

"You did tell her it's twins, right? I don't want her freaking out all over again 'cause I'm already showing."

"No, was I supposed to?"

"Cooper! Ugh, never mind. Just go to the airport so she doesn't have something to complain about before she gets to the house."

"Yes dear. I love you."

"I love you, too." _Despite being incredibly pissed off at you. _ Charlotte hangs up, throwing her phone onto the coffee table and laying down on the couch, putting her arm over her eyes and sighing. She slowly drifts off to sleep, being woken up less than an hour later by her phone. It's Cooper, wanting to know where she is. She replies that she'll be home in half an hour. Charlotte reluctantly grabs her coat, purse, and a few patient files that she can work on at home, seeing as she's been taking a lot of naps when she should be working on paper work. The drive home isn't long enough, though usually it's way too long. Augusta's rental car is parked in front of the garage, and she can see Augusta and Cooper sitting at the kitchen table through the large kitchen window. Grabbing her purse and taking the keys out of the ignition, she pulls herself out of the car and plasters a smile on her face.

"Hi, Momma." Charlotte says happily, after kicking her heels of at the door and hanging her coat and purse on the hook.

"Charlotte, I've missed you." Augusta gets up to hug her daughter. Wrapped in a hug, Charlotte makes a confused face at Cooper. He shrugs in reply. Charlotte doesn't smell liquor, which makes her even more confused.

Noticing Charlotte's sniffing, Augusta says, "I haven't been drinking, Charlotte." She pulls away from the hug to get a look at Charlotte. "Look at you! All grown up, and with a baby on the way, I'd never have imagined"

"Do you need some tea, Charlotte?" Cooper recognizes the look Charlotte's face, the one where she needs help, the one she seldom makes.

"Yes, Cooper, tea would be great. I'm just going to change out of my work clothes."

"Charlotte," Augusta turns to looks at Charlotte, who has started to make her way up to the bedroom.

"Hmm?"

"Are you showing?" _Shit._ That was the reason she was going to change. There was no point in trying to hide her bump from her coworkers, they already knew, thanks to her accidental dehydration during the wedding. She was planning on trying to hide it from her mother, which actually seemed pointless, but she didn't want more conversation. She loved her momma, but she was never there when she needed her most. She tried to talk her out of her wedding, for goodness sake!

"Yes, why?" Charlotte turned to face her mother after a pause.

"I didn't think you were that far along."

"Thirteen weeks."

"And you're showing already?"

"Yes, I guess so."

"That's strange."

_Stop talking! _"Yeah, I guess."

"Hmm," Augusta nods.

"It's twins, Momma," Charlotte finally spits out. Without saying another word, she leaves her mother at the bottom of the stairs and goes up to her bedroom. She closes the door quietly behind her, careful not to slam it, and sits on the bed to reclaim herself. If only her mother wasn't so controlling. Her wedding, had they not eloped, would have been a mess, if it had even happened with her mother and Cooper's parents around. Her life was going so well before Cooper went and screwed up. Even though it wasn't that much of a problem, now she had to deal with all of this extra drama, all on top of two jobs, a husband, a huge house to keep clean, and two babies on the way. After about ten minutes of sitting on the bed and thinking about what she would say when she got downstairs again, she stood up and found the most comfortable pair of pants that she owned, and pulled them on, followed by a huge sweater that she pulled from a random drawer in her dresser. She marched downstairs again, ready to face her mother. She finds her sitting at the island in the kitchen with another cup of coffee. She turns around when she hears Charlotte coming down the stairs.

"Charlotte," Augusta starts.

"You were never there when I needed you! How can I forgive you for that?"

"I'm so sorry." Charlotte can't believe that these are the words coming out of her mother's mouth, but her hearing has never been better.

"I don't believe you," Charlotte crosses her arms to show seriousness. "You were a drunk for my entire childhood, you tried to talk me out of my own wedding, and the last time I saw or talked to you was at that wedding. It's been two years!" Charlotte is almost in tears now. _Damn hormones._

"Charlotte, I am so, so sorry."

"Prove it. Did you join AA?"

"Yes. One year and three weeks ago." Augusta pulls out her chip to show Charlotte. The silver chip shines under the kitchen chandelier. "When I talked to Cooper, he said that you were happy. Then he mentioned babies, and I needed to see that I haven't totally screwed you up. I needed to see that you were happy, even with the mess of a life that I gave you. I am sorry. And if you want me to leave, I will."

"You should get a hotel room." Charlotte says, staring at the floor. Augusta walks to the door, grabs her bag and coat, and turns to Charlotte.

"I'll be at the Sofitel. I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, later. Bye." And with that, the only people in the house were Charlotte and Cooper. Charlotte slowly walks over to sit on the huge, comfortable couch, and starts sobbing uncontrollably. Cooper immediately moves to sit next to her, holding her, just the way he did on that plane the last time that Charlotte was in Alabama.

* * *

**A/N:** **OMG, that took forever for me to write, and I'm sorry about that, truly, but it was hard to write for Augusta. I was really debating whether or not she'd be sober, but I ended up deciding that she would be. Also, I said in a previous A/N that Mark's story would be revealed very soon, and it will be, hopefully in Chapter 20-22, somewhere in there. Thanks for reading, as always, and reviews are always welcome! **

**Mwah!**

**-K**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 (Addison's POV)

**Alright, people. Two things:**

**This chapter is a flashback, mostly. It starts in the same place as the last chapter, with Amelia leaving to see Charlotte. It's the story of how Kelsey came to be. The italics are the flashback. The two parts at the beginning and end are not. This chapter is from Addison's point of view. Enjoy!**

**Also, I don't know what's up, if you people didn't like the last chapter or you're just too busy to review, but the last chapter got enough views to satisfy me, so, even if you didn't like the chapter, tell me. It doesn't even have to be constructive criticism. If you just send me a PM simply saying you didn't like it, at least I know that you read it. Thanks for reading, as always. **

Amelia was just in the room. She said she was going to see Charlotte. I look at Sam. He doesn't look peaceful at all. I wish I could let him go. I wish I hadn't lied to him about Mark and Kelsey. It makes me remember that day, almost ten months ago. Sam had proposed more than two months ago, and I hadn't given him an answer yet.

_ "Mark?" I open the door after hearing multiple knocks. Mark is standing in the doorway. _

_ "Hey, Red." Oh. He called me 'Red,' this can't be good. _

_ "Why are you here? Did something happen to Callie?" I'm worried about an old friend from Seattle. I love Callie. She's like a sister to me. Sort of like Amelia, but not quite as strong. _

_ "Uhm, sort of. Arizona died." _

_ "Arizona?"_

_ "Her wife. She just lies around the apartment all day, only ever getting up for Sofia or the bathroom. I need help." _

_ "What happened?" I walk into the kitchen now, Mark follows, and we sit down at the table. _

_ "She was in a plane crash with some other doctors." _

_ "When does the next flight for Seattle leave?" _

_ "Three hours." He checks his watch, then looks up at me. _

_ "I'll go get packed." _

_ I'm all ready to go two hours later, I have my bag packed, have called all of my patients for the next two days to cancel. I have made a list of patients that I haven't called for the next few days in case I get held up in Seattle. I talked to Sam and he was fine with me leaving for a few days and taking care of Henry when the nanny wasn't able to be around. An hour later, I am on a plane and taking off for Seattle. _

_ A few hours later, I hear the pilot over the intercom. "Alright, folks, we'll be landing in Seattle in less than thirty minutes. Seattle is currently under cloudy skies with, oh, ninety-eight percent chance of rain. Isn't that interesting?" He lets out a little chuckle. I sit up and stretch out as much as I can without getting out of my seat. I must have fallen asleep on the plane because it didn't feel very long. We go to Mark's apartment. I tell him that I'll go see Callie in the morning, maybe go to the hospital, just to catch up. I feel so behind. Everyone is moving on, so far. Callie got remarried, Derek and Meredith have a baby, and Karev is more of a whore than Mark is, or was, I guess. I drift to sleep next to Mark, finding myself oddly comfortable beside him. Sam never gave me this kind of comfortable. I was always comfortable with Sam, just not like this. I wake in the morning to the smell of bacon and pancakes. Mmm._

_ "Something smells good." I smile at Mark, who has an apron on and a spatula in his hand. _

_ "I made pancakes. Hungry?" He smiles that big, cheesy smile that he only gives to the people he loves. We eat in silence, neither of us wanting to break this precious silence that is so rare. After we finish eating and the dishes are washed, Mark and I cross the hall to see Callie. Mark doesn't say much, just that I am here and that he's taking Sofia to work with him so that Callie can have a good, long, uninterrupted conversation with me. I walk into Callie's room after Mark leaves, and to my surprise, it's pretty clean. At least she's keeping things relatively orderly. _

_ "Callie," I start._

_ "I know why you're here. Mark flew all the way to LA to get you, thinking that you could snap me out of this. Good luck." She isn't looking at me when she talks. She isn't really looking at anything in particular, just at the wall. She's siting on the side of the bed, Arizona's side, I'd guess, from the way that she's sitting. It's like she's sitting on pins and needles, that she doesn't want to put too much weight on the bed because she's afraid she'll crush something. _

_ "I have a kid, now." I figure something happy might help. Even if it doesn't, at least she'll have something to gossip about. "And I'm getting married, I guess." _

_ "Good for you. I'm glad that you're so freaking happy. Meanwhile, in Seattle, Callie is falling apart, all over Mark, and it's killing both of them, and they're both running out of ideas as to what to do. I'm glad you're so freaking happy." Now she turns her head to look at me. The Callie stare is easily as bad as the Bailey stare. It hurts to see her like this. I guess my happiness isn't good for her. I wish I could help her. I have never felt so powerless in all of my life. _

_ "You should just go home to you're perfect little life and not worry about poor Callie," she says, staring at me again, anger in her eyes._

"_I'm not leaving. My life isn't perfect. I don't wish I knew what you're going through, but I want to help you. I love you Callie, like a sister."_

"_I don't want you here!" She's yelling now, "I want to be alone in my bubble of self-pity."_

"_I'm going to the hospital, then. I'll be back later." I don't give her a chance to tell me not to come back. I leave, quietly closing the door behind me. I go back to Mark's using the key he gave me and grab my purse and coat. The hospital is just across the street, so normally I wouldn't grab my coat, but it's snowing. The snow is another reason that I love Los Angeles so much. It doesn't snow there. Like, ever. I wish I were there now. But I'm here, and I almost want to be here. It's nice to come back every once in a while, just to see Derek and Richard and everyone else. There will always be a place in my heart for Derek, even if he's in a very, very tiny box. Seeing him with Meredith doesn't really bother me anymore. I'm happy with Sam. I will always be happy with Sam, even when we're fighting, I'll be happy with him. I'd bet anyone anything that Arizona was Callie's Sam. And now she's gone. I'm approaching the hospital doors now. I stop to take it all in. I haven't been here since Callie's accident, which, thinking about it now, seems further in the past than it really is. I realize that I've missed this place. It feels good to be back, even on these terms. I immediately see Richard waiting for an elevator. He looks to me, back to the elevator, then back to me, doing a double-take. I guess Mark didn't tell everyone that I was coming. Oh well._

"_Addison? What are you doing here?" Richard smiles as he approaches me, opening his arms for a hug. I immediately move towards him. He was a better father than my father was. I hate that Meredith and I have that in common, but what can I say? Richard is a great father-figure, even if he never had kids of his own. _

"_I'm here to see Callie." I smile a sad smile, looking at Richard as we pull away from our hug. "I wish I was here on better terms." _

"_Don't we all." _

"_How are things around here?" _

"_Great, we've got loads of new staff," we start walking now, "and things are taking rapid changes." _

"_Like what?" _

"_You'll have to talk to people to find that out." The elevator doors open in front of us as we step on. Derek is on the elevator already. _

"_Addie?" _

"_Good thing you're eyes still work." I smile at him. He smiles back. I knew the reason that they call him McDreamy, but he seeing his smile just reminds me how great he looks. Even to be almost forty-five. I guess he's really not that old, it's just that he's married now. _

"_Hey." He reaches out for a hug, just as Richard did. I reluctantly reach over and give him a hug. His warmth feels good. I know it shouldn't feel this good but it does. It feels comfortable. It feels like home. I was married to him for eleven years and it almost feels like I'm back in New York. Except I'm not. I'm not married to Derek, Mark isn't the whore that he was and everything is different. I love that it's different, but every once in a while I wish that I could be there instead of here. _

"_It's good to see you again." I smile at him. _

"_Yeah," he smiles back. I turn around as the elevator doors open to reveal Alex Karev waiting on the other side. He smiles when he sees me. _

"_Addison, you're back." Alex's grin extends in his horny, stupid, adorable smile. It made me smile my own version of that adorable smile. It doesn't take long for me to realize that I've missed him, too. It's hard to not miss him. He steps on to the elevator and gives me a huge hug before he walks in._

"_Yeah, I'm back. For a while, anyway." I say over his shoulder, smiling again. _

"_That's good. It's good to see you again." He grins at me again. _

"_You too, Karev." He steps onto the elevator and we fall into an awkward silence. It's not long before we're at the next floor and the doors open. Everyone files off of the elevator and goes their separate ways. I follow Richard to his office. I take a seat on the couch and he sits behind his desk._

"_What brings you to Seattle?" He looks at me with his eyes wide, making him look very curious._

"_Mark came to get me to help him with Callie. Apparently..." He cuts me off._

"_I'm aware of Dr. Torres' situation." He looks to his desk. "And you can tell her that I'm sorry for her loss and that her job will wait as long as long as she needs." _

"_I'll be sure to pass the message on." I smile, pressing my lips together, making my thankful face. It's good to know that Richard is still as caring as he was the last time I talked to him. It's been awhile. Even when I was here to help Callie after the accident, I didn't talk to him very much; I was so preoccupied with everything. I heard that Adele was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and he had put her in a home. That can't be good for him. _

"_Well, I'm sure you have lots more people to see, I should let you get to it."_

"_Thanks. I'll be sure to be back before I go home." We sit there for a minute before I get up to leave. I don't say anything after that. I just leave. Richard is a bit like Derek, Sam, and Mark. There are very few people who I can be in a room with and know what they're thinking. Richard isn't as easy as Derek or Sam, but it isn't hard to figure out what he's thinking. It isn't long before I run into Meredith. She looks good. Healthy. I don't literally run into her, we just pass each other on the catwalk. She doesn't recognize me right away; she passes me and looks at me, not noticing that it's me right away and turning around when she realizes it's me. _

"_Addison?" She's standing behind me, facing my back. As soon as I hear my name I stop and turn around, not afraid or trying to avoid her. I don't want her to think that I hate her. I don't hate her. I have no reason to. I'm happy, she's happy, now if only Callie was happy; all would be right in the world. Or at least it would seem that way. _

"_Meredith. How are you?" I ask, smiling, trying to show her that I'm done with my grudge._

"_I'm good, how are you?" She looks a little confused. _

"_I'm good," _

"_What brings you out to Seattle?" _

"_Uhm, Mark came to L.A. to get me to try to help Callie," _

"_Oh. Any luck?" _

"_No." I look at the floor, feeling a little awkwardness coming on. "Unfortunately." _

"_Good luck," she smiles at me as she turns to walk away. I smile back and continue to walk the other way, back into the hospital. _

_I haven't seen Mark since I got here, I assume he's in surgery. I decide that I'll go check the OR board to see what OR he's in. I see that Alex is in OR 3 with a tumor resection on a toddler, and Bailey is in OR 4 with a liver transplant. Mark is scheduled to be finishing up his surgery soon, so I decide to go watch Bailey for a bit. It's not all that exciting, really. I've seen enough liver transplants for a lifetime, but it's more exciting than waiting around for Mark. I sit in the gallery for an hour before Mark comes to sit beside me. _

"_Hey," he smiles._

"_Hey." _

"_How long have you been sitting here?" It takes me a minute to realize it's been an hour._

"_Oh, an hour, I guess."_

"_My shift ended twenty minutes ago. You wanna head back to my place?" _

"_Yeah, but not like that." He laughs because I caught his little bit of sexual innuendo. His face makes me giggle._

"'_Kay," I follow him to the locker room so that he can change and get his coat and keys. He pulls his scrub top off and I notice he's been working out. It takes about an ounce of will power to avoid crashing into him and closing the gap between my lips and his. I swallow the urge and turn my back, pretending to be occupied by my phone. It is amazing, isn't it? How much can be packed into such a small piece of cold, hard material. It's astonishing. I notice that I have an unopened text from Sam. I guess it's from when I had my phone off when I was on the gallery earlier today. He's asking me how the flight was. I reply, saying that I slept most of the way, so it was good. _

"_Ready to go?" Mark's voice catches me off guard._

"_Hmm, oh. Yeah." _

_The 'urge' comes back when we get back to the apartment. I swallow it, like I did at the hospital. I hear Sofia crying, but Mark is busy so I yell,_

"_I got her." She's absolutely adorable. Maybe if I still lived here, she'd be mine. Maybe. But I have Henry now, and I wouldn't rather it any other way. Sofia just needs a quick diaper change, and Mark walks into the room a few seconds after I'm done. _

"_Good timing." I laugh as I put Sofia back in her crib. Suddenly, the room goes silent. I find the urge creeping up my throat as Mark's eyes meet mine. We stare at each other for a minute then smell something burning. _

"_Oops. That would be dinner." He turns on his heel to get the lasagna out of the oven before it becomes charred. I sit on the bed, throw my head against the wall, and let out a huff of air. I sit for a minute, just to breathe. The lasagna smells really good. Surely it must have taken all day to make. It's probably store-bought. I really don't care though. I realize that I'm starving. That's the thing with surgeons. You learn to push back your hunger until you get out of that eight hour surgery, or until your finished with the consults that have piled up. Your work comes before your stomach, bladder, and cellphone, ninety-nine percent of the time. I walk out to the kitchen island and take a seat while Mark serves me. I feel bad because he's letting me stay here instead of at a hotel, but I don't because I'm here doing him a favor. Well I'm not, actually, he did me a favor when he came to L.A. to tell me that Callie was the way she was. I care about Callie. I really do. _

_Mark puts a slice of garlic toast with cheese on my plate, then a slice on his, then repeats the process with the lasagna. He pours a glass of red wine for me, then some for him. He sits down to my left, and we eat in silence for a while. I finally say something after about ten minutes._

"_I think I'll go talk to Callie after I finish eating."_

"_That's good. I usually take something for her to eat after I'm finished."_

"_I can take it."_

"_It usually gets hurled back at you, or set aside."_

"_I figured. I don't mind." _

"_Okay then." Neither of us says anything until we both finish. He wraps up a plate for Callie just as I am finishing and I grab it off the counter before making the short journey across the hall. I knock and open the door without waiting for an answer. I find Callie sitting on the couch. Her hair is damp and she's in different clothes from what she was wearing this morning. She's not as depressed as I originally thought, I guess, but she's still in the same place that she was this morning. _

"_Callie, Mark sent you some dinner. He made lasagna. It's great, you should have some." I offer her the plate and she looks at me with a shy face. She takes it though, and opens the cover. _

"_It smells good."_

"_It is."_

"_Thanks." Callie gets up to get a fork. I step out of the way as she tries to pass me. _

"_Do you want some coffee?" She asks, setting her plate and fork down on the island and digging a coffee mug out of the cupboard. _

"_Coffee would be good." She grabs a second mug for me and closes the cupboard, making her way to the coffee maker. She pours coffee into the mugs and brings them over. We sit, she eats, I drink. The silence is broken by Callie speaking up. _

"_I'm sorry I was so rude to you this morning." _

"_I get it. I shouldn't have brought up everything that was going on in my life."_

"_It's just that it's hard to wake up without her. And it's hard to go to bed without her. I haven't been to the hospital since she died. I can't do anything here without remembering her and turning into a puddle of tears."_

"_I'm sorry. Really." _

"_I need to get away. I just need a break from all the pity, and the looks that tell me everyone knows about me. I just want to go away. For a long time."_

"_You wouldn't do that to Mark, would you?"_

"_No. I couldn't do that to Mark, or Sofia." _

"_You'll get through this. Everything will be okay. You'll see." _

"_Thanks."_

"_Of course. I should head back to Mark's. I'll come back tomorrow. I'll probably be heading home soon." _

"_Oh. Okay. Thanks Addison. And I really am happy for you." I can't help but smile, thinking about all the things that are causing my life to feel like it's not just a waste of time._

"_I'll make sure you get a wedding invitation."_

"_I'll be there." She smiles and turns her head back to her lasagna. We sit in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes until I finish my coffee and she finishes the garlic bread and lasagna. She moves her plate to the sink and I follow her with my mug. _

"_I think I'll head back over to Mark's. I'll stop by tomorrow before I leave." _

"_Okay. Goodnight." She replies as I open the door and make the short journey across the hall. I find Mark sitting on the couch watching football. He gets up when he hears me enter the room._

"_How was she?" He asks, a worried look in his eye._

"_She ate everything on the plate, if that's what you mean." That urge. Ugh. He is so irresistible to me. 'No.' I think to myself. 'I can't let Mark ruin my second marriage, too.'_

"_That's great." I can tell he wants it, too. He's definitely trying to keep his pants on. This time, he's the one who fails. He closes the gap between our bodies within a matter of seconds. _

Well, the rest, I suppose, is history. When Mark showed up at the wedding, I knew that he knew that Kelsey wasn't Sam's. The reason he hasn't left yet is because Callie left Seattle and took Sofia and he really tried to find her but he couldn't. Between Lexie dying and Callie leaving, I don't know how he's still sane. I had no idea that Lexie was dead or dying or whatever when I was in Seattle. Richard later explained that she was on a ventilator in the ICU but she seemed like she was getting better. I guess not.

I look back to Sam's face. I want so badly to let him go, but I can't do it. I knew Amelia was going to talk to Charlotte about telling me that Sam won't get any better. I know it will break Amelia if she has to tell me. If she has to tear my world apart, it won't be good for her. I stick to not thinking about that and trying to sleep. But my brain is too busy to sleep. I need to let Sam go.


End file.
